VIDEO: Camera records brazen daylight theft of parcel

Less than an hour after a parcel was delivered to the front door of the Langley home of Sue and Greg Parslow on Friday, a dark-coloured car stopped on the street, then backed into the driveway.

A man in dark clothes, including a T-shirt with white lettering on the front, who was wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses, got out, strolled casually up the walk, took the parcel and drove away.

The package contained a relatively inexpensive platter for a bridal shower that had been ordered online by a Parslow daughter, who had it routed to her parents because she thought it would be less likely to be stolen from their quiet Brookswood neighbourhood.

The daughter didn’t realize it had been stolen until she checked with the delivery service the next day and discovered the parcel had supposedly arrived.

“It’s not there,” Sue told her daughter.

“Get dad to look at the security camera.”

There, in crisp, high-definition video, they could see the package drop-off, and then the theft.

“Every year, there’s a video of a package being stolen (on the news) and this year, I guess it’s our turn,” Sue said.

She noted the car did not appear to have a rear licence plate when it backed into the driveway.

“He knew what he was doing.”

She wonders if the car had been following the delivery truck route, because where the parcel was left is not easily visible from the street.

The Parslows decided to make the theft public and release he video clip to let other people in the area who may have lost packages know about the thief.

“We’re not the only ones (I suspect)” she said.

“If we hadn’t had the video surveillance, we wouldn’t have known.”

The theft has been reported to the Langley RCMP.

RCMP Sgt. Alexandra Mulvihill said while such thefts are “not a common occurrence,” with Christmas season getting closer, people are reminded to take steps if they are having something expensive or with great sentimental value delivered to prevent theft.

Recipients can arrange to have a signature required, or have a package delivered to an office, or to a neighbour who will be around if the recipient can’t be there.